Who Plays Electric Guitar?

[UQ Turbo]

Hey all,

I just got a bunch of servicing done to my guitar (and paid a bit too much) and that got me curious about how the magical electrical stuff actually works.

Off I went to buy an electrical textbook and get annoyed at not being able to write node equations down and stand amazed at how easy phasor anaylsis is compared to non-complex number methods of ODE solving...

Back to guitars - has anyone tried to make their own pickup? The big brands (Seymour Duncan etc) seem to charge a lot for a bunch of windings and a case.

What I'm after is an input/output sort of thing for number of windings, magnet type,size etc and frequency response out. Then it should be relatively easy to make a bridge humbucker with an awesome metal sound...or maybe I'm over-reaching here for a mechy.

Also, if you just have some stories about cutting out some phat licks or whatever...

MC
UQ FSAE Alumni

[UQ Turbo]

Hey all,

I just got a bunch of servicing done to my guitar (and paid a bit too much) and that got me curious about how the magical electrical stuff actually works.

Off I went to buy an electrical textbook and get annoyed at not being able to write node equations down and stand amazed at how easy phasor anaylsis is compared to non-complex number methods of ODE solving...

Back to guitars - has anyone tried to make their own pickup? The big brands (Seymour Duncan etc) seem to charge a lot for a bunch of windings and a case.

What I'm after is an input/output sort of thing for number of windings, magnet type,size etc and frequency response out. Then it should be relatively easy to make a bridge humbucker with an awesome metal sound...or maybe I'm over-reaching here for a mechy.

Also, if you just have some stories about cutting out some phat licks or whatever...

MC
UQ FSAE Alumni

[Wesley]

I dabble in guitar, I'm not particuarly good, but I can play a recognizable tune. Used to play piano, stopped, and forgot all of it.

As for making my own pickups... I've never gone that far. I still play the same cheap-ass Squier I got in high school because I have no money.

So basically, I know nothing about the mechanics behind electric guitars. But you know, neither did Les Paul... http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

[KU_Racing]

I play a little.

I tried to change the sound of a pickup once, and ruined it pretty badly with only a small adjustment. I think making your own and getting the sound you want would be tough- specifically, i think the biggest obstacle would be getting the windings tight enough and consistant enough, and also sealing them off.

[Greg 08]

Dude, two words.

Guitar Hero

Rock Harder http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

[mtg]

I play, and used to work in a guitar repair shop. Just buy a set of Seymour Duncans and call it good. With the cash/time you'd spend making your own pickup, you might as well just buy one that you know sounds bitchin' and get back to work on the racecar- surely you're behind schedule on something http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

I've tried a LOT of pickups and the Seymour Duncan JB/59 combo is pretty hard to beat. Or if you want single coils, go with the Fender 59/62 reissues and try to ignore the noise- the tone is worth it.

[UQ Turbo]

Cheers guys,

I think you're right...I've already got a Seymour Duncan humbucker for the bridge, thought I'd dabble with the singles just for fun. I think I'll take your advice though, and just leave it the hell alone.

mtg, you probably know the answer to this one... guitar manufacturers are always going on about the type of wood in the neck and body. Honestly, does it make any difference at all? Intuition tell me you could make a guitar out of carbon fibre or PET and it wouldn't make a bit of difference. It's like guitar 'experts' that claim different leads make a different sound.

As for having stuff to do on the car, there is heaps... but that's for the current team to do. I got bored with consulting after graduation and am doing a PhD now...anyone else in a similar boat?

Cheers again,

MC
UQ FSAE Alumni

[mtg]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by UQ Turbo:
mtg, you probably know the answer to this one... guitar manufacturers are always going on about the type of wood in the neck and body. Honestly, does it make any difference at all? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, it definitely makes a difference. It is less noticeable in electrics than acoustics because you have more variables (such as pickups and the amp), but go to a guitar shop and pickup two acoustic guitars made from different woods (with as many other variables constant as possible) and you'll hear the difference.

Btw, the Parker Fly is a carbon guitar. Ovation also makes some acoustic guitars with carbon tops- they're the only Ovations I like, the rest sound like crap.

Mahogany and rosewood have a full even tone, whereas maple is more "bright", ie more treble etc.

[RiNaZ]

I play a little bit. Spent a lot of time on guitar until i got involved with FSAE. I stopped playing for about 7 years now. Recently, my ex-roomate moved out of state, and gave me his acoustic guitar. So im starting to get back on playing the guitar. It's amazing what you remember even after not touching a guitar for that long.

I dont have much experience in pickups, but ive been meaning to make my own CF guitar http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif.

By the way, how come no one has come up with an idea for a guitar IM? Basically, you're IMing with a guitar, kinda like a jamming session with ppl you never met. That would be so cool if i can just plug my guitar to my computer, get online, join a session, and play along with different races and nationality, all in the privacy of my own room. Any computer science major here that knows how to go about in making that happened?

[MetalAndy]

Yea, I play, also acoustic, and i get stuck playing bass too much for my brothers and stuff.
but you should look at this. http://www.diyhappy.com/how-to-make-a-guitarbass-pickup/
It's the basic way to wind pickups...I'd say just for fun though because you'll probably get better ones by buying them. you can alway do some searching on the internet for other places that sell pickup winding supplies. I think this summer, im gonna build a guitar. I hope. I wanted to last summer, but got stuck working.

PS. what kind of axe you got?

[UQ Turbo]

Sweet! That pickup sounds pretty good for $5...lol.

mtg, I realise acoustic guitars and violins etc need a resonating chamber to work and their construction is obviously important to tone. Specifically for solid-body electric guitars though, the only affect on sound as I can see would be if the strings excited the body which in turn forced the strings back (like a two-mass, two-spring, two-damper system). A topic for someone keen enough perhaps. Cheers for the info on wood types though, I did not know that.

I'll post a pic up once it gets back from the workshop... its a Vester body with parts from at least 4 different guitars...what about you guys? I'm thinking of getting another electric to be set up for normal tuning (I use drop-D most of the time)...anyone recommend a good Ibanez or Jackson?

MC
UQ FSAE Alumni

[D J Yates]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by UQ Turbo:
...anyone recommend a good Ibanez or Jackson? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I've got a Jackson DKMG, paid around £600 a couple of years ago. It's like any other metal/shred guitar - flat thin neck, large cutaways, pointy headstock, floyd rose bridge and a pair of EMG's but is versatile enough for non-metal antics - the carved top gives a bright warm tone when using the neck pickup. For a mid-price guitar it's very well built and has excellent hardware - the ESP equivillent is double the price. At the time of purchase, the only guitar i played that felt better was a £4k PRS. I've never played a decent Ibanez so i can't really compare how they play, but my Jackson sounds as good as any Ibanez and just looks so much better.

[mtg]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by UQ Turbo:
anyone recommend a good Ibanez or Jackson?
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I've got one of each- a '94 Ibanez RG570 and a '95 Jackson Kelly Pro. They're both pretty kickass- the Jackson is built a little better, but also cost more.

The wood on a solid body electric does affect the tone in the way you mentioned- the strings are mounted to the body and react vibrations of said strings. If you can imagine an infinitely stiff body versus a body made from a block of rubber, the resulting string vibration will be different. The pickups, well uh "pickup" the vibtration of the strings, etc. So you're right, basically.

When I worked in the repair shop (it was in a now defunct MARS music store), I made a guitar from a one-piece solid slab of mahogany that was 3" thick to experiment with insanse sustain (maybe call it instain?). I traced my Les Paul for the shape and used a Strat neck. It's so heavy it can only be played in short bursts unless you want to go to a chiropractor. The idea was such a huge mass of a body would have crazy sustain and huge sound. Result: crazy sustain and tinny sound. The body doesn't absorb enough high frequency vibration (causing the tinny sound). If I felt ambitious, I'd hollow some it out to try to fix that.

The biggest bummer was the free neck I got was free for a reason. I didn't realise the truss rod was broken until I did a setup on the thing after spending way too much time building it. Dammit.

[Wesley]

Ooh, yeah I'd imagine a mahogany guitar would just suck the life out of the midrange, being so dense.

A nice light, but hard, wood is good.

I would like to see someone make a balsa guitar though. No sustain, but man would it squeal. Just be very careful with it! http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

[UQ Turbo]

Nice one...that sounds like a workout session!

Well, here is a pic as promised. The black one is made up of about 5 different guitars - very thin Steve Vai neck and killer Seymour Duncan. That's my metal axe tuned in drop D.

The blue one is new - a Jackson Dinky. Pretty cheap and almost nasty enough to be annoying - but very simple and tuned the normal way to play other songs. Anyone else got pics?


http://img151.imageshack.us/my.php?image=shinyguitars003jf9.jpg

[Wesley]

Yeah, but it's nothing you wouldn't see on the shelf for 200 bucks. I did take off the back cover so I could pretend to be Stevie Ray Vaughan.

[GreatfulDeadHead]

Its not as hard as you think. All it is is just a magnett with wire around it. But i would go with buying it. You try to make it, it may work, but it'll sound like shit.

YOu could try potting them yourself van halen style.

[Peter7307]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by UQ Turbo:

mtg, you probably know the answer to this one... guitar manufacturers are always going on about the type of wood in the neck and body. Honestly, does it make any difference at all? Intuition tell me you could make a guitar out of carbon fibre or PET and it wouldn't make a bit of difference. It's like guitar 'experts' that claim different leads make a different sound.


Cheers again,

MC
UQ FSAE Alumni </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The type of wood DOES make a difference but this is not to suggest the quality of result depends entirely on high budget wood.
Anyone remember the Taylor "Packing Crate" guitar?

To prove the design and craftsmanship was as important as the wood Taylor guitars built a guitar from wood from a discarded packing case (complete with nails still in place) and it was generally agreed to sound as good as any other guitar built from exotic woods intended specifically for instrument making.

Cheers , Pete.

[mtg]

I remember the pallet guitar. I've never heard it, but I did hear it sounded pretty good.

I'll believe it, as I own a Taylor 614CE http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif At the time, I wanted to buy the best sounding acoustic guitar we sold at MARS; we also were a Martin and Gibson dealer.